Game on!

After the quarter-finals had been concluded, I had been keeping my eye on the ticket page of Portsmouth's website. As expected Villa, Chelsea & Spurs quickly sold their allocations but as Pompey have an average attendance of 18,000 and a 32,000 allocation to sell I was quite confident of getting a ticket in their open sale this week.

Sadly, all looked to be lost as they decided to restrict the sale to people who had attended at least one Fratton Park match this season.

... until half-ten on the Wednesday evening when a call from my good friend Liam Core put me in touch with a Spurs fan in Belfast who was flying over for the match and had a spare ticket available for the game.

So this Sunday I will be swapping my sofa my first visit to the rebuilt Wembley, the FA Cup is truly a magical competition.

Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur Sixth Round, Saturday 6th March 2010

After the 5th round matches had concluded, I had a slightly uneasy feeling about the prospects for the quarter finals. Part of this was the fact that there were still 4 replays still to be concluded and the other part was worry over whether I'd be able to get a ticket for the game. Looking at the options, I immediately ruled out a trip to Portsmouth as it was still uncertain as to whether they would still be in business by the time the game came round. The other two teams that were certain to be at home were Chelsea and Fulham, each awaiting the winner of the two replays I had seen in the previous round. I felt my chances of securing a ticket would be better if they went on open sale and Fulham duly did this two days before the replay date and as there was also the chance that Bolton would be the visitors was also a factor. Sadly for me, Bolton were comprehensively beaten 4-0 but I was just relieved I had a ticket in hand and all my travel arrangements were made.

The other advantage of the tie I had selected was that, being on a Sunday, I could go clubbing on Friday night as I had Saturday to recover and I already had Monday off work already. Everything was looking good until last Wednesday night, when ITV were going through the weekends FA Cup fixtures after the England game and I could swear I heard them say that the Fulham game was on Saturday and not Sunday. A quick check of the ticket revealed that I had made an almighty cock-up and the game was indeed on the Saturday, and all my pre-booked travel was for the Sunday. At this late stage, the cost of return travel by train had rocketed up to £65 return so I had to bite the bullet and go by coach instead, which was still mercifully cheap. Heading down was not too bad, leaving Manchester at 10.30am with a 3pm arrival, but coming back the only option was the 23.30 National Express service getting me back to Manchester at about 05.30 on the Sunday morning.

Thankfully, I managed to get myself up in time to make the coach down, albeit on about 3 hours sleep and feeling like one of the living dead. Despite Megabus having the most arse-numbingly uncomfortable seating I have ever found on a coach I managed to get back another 3 hours sleep and upon a slightly earlier than scheduled arrive at London Victoria I was now feeling up for the cup and ready for some food. I was fortunate to find a fine pub just around the corner from the station and availed myself of a very decent pint of London Pride and some excellent venison sausages and mash.

The trip to the ground was straight forward, having done it back in January, a quick change of trains at Clapham Junction to Putney, down Putney High Street, across the Thames and joining the crowds heading through the park. Again there was a nice friendly atmosphere between the fans and it was nice to see a couple with divided loyalties for the day.



On paper todays game promised much, Fulham were in a healthy 9th position in the league and had just knocked holders Shaktar Donetsk out of the Europa League and were now looking forward to taking on the mighty Juventus in the last 16 of the competition. Tottenham, who have won the cup 8 times in the past, are currently occupying the 4th Champions League berth in the league. To get to this stage, Fulham had a relatively easy path since I had last seen them with victories over Accrington Stanley and Notts County. Tottenham had started their run with a 4-0 victory over Peterborough but had made slightly harder work against Leeds United and then Bolton, requiring a replay on each occasion to progress.

For this game, I decided to opt for the Riverside Stand which would give me a different perspective on the ground and would also put the late afternoon sun behind me. Although not as impressive as the Johnny Haynes Stand, it does boast an excellent terrace behind the stand with views of the Thames for fans to enjoy their pre-match drinks and food.
Taking my seat for the game, I found myself right down near the front and next to the Fulham dug-out which was the closest I've probably been the action since my trip to Buxton way back in the 4th Qualifying Round.


After all the drama that I had gone through to get to the game, maybe I should have anticipated that the game would be a bit of an anti-climax. Both teams were playing a passing game but to little effect from an attacking point of view. Tottenham had the bulk of the possession and came the closest to scoring with a fine saves from Schwarzer denying England's midweek goal-hero, Peter Crouch as well as Niko Kranjcar.



The second half failed to be much of an improvement on the first half, Fulham edging a bit more into the game and managed to test Tottenham's Gomez with a few good chances from Duff and Gera. A little light relief from the action on the pitch was provided by home substitutes warming up on the exercise bike. Tottenham threw their FA Cup talisman Jermain Defoe in to the action as a substitute but he too failed to break the deadlock and the final score of 0-0 was a result that was a fair reflection and both managers will fancy their chances of trying to progress to the semi-final at the second time of asking.


So with Fulham and Tottenham being left to sort out who will get face Portsmouth in the semi-final, my next FA Cup game should be at Wembley but I'm not afraid to admit I'm slightly nervous about my prospects of securing a ticket but fingers are well and truly crossed for me in the meantime.

Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur Fifth Round, Sunday 14th February 2010

For my second cup match of a busy weekend I finally decided to pay a trip to The Reebok to see my own team, Bolton Wanderers, in action. Since the Third Round stage Bolton had been causing me a bit of a dilemma as this was about new grounds and experiences for me and in each round Bolton kept getting themselves drawn at home, ruling out the possibility of an awayday. Following my rejection by Derby and before Umbro's kind intervention, it seemed that fate had decided I was destined for The Reebok and a ticket was secured.

It would actually be my first visit since Jussi Jaaskelainen's testimonial in August having become a very much lapsed fan during the awful football of Gary Megson's reign combined with having to tighten my belt during the last couple of bleak economic years. The appointment of Owen Coyle was a source of joy as a link back to the days of Bruce Rioch at Burnden Park which was my happiest time following Bolton.

The trip to the ground was a simple one just involving a quick change of trains at Piccadilly. I had become acutely aware that I had neglected to feed myself since Saturday lunch so headed out of the station for some emergency Greggs. The one girl on the till looked like she had lost the will to live faced with an ever growing queue and the prospects of being served before my next train left were slim, so diverted to the pasty stall inside the concourse and a very satisfactory Cornish did the job.

A second change of trains at Bolton and I was soon leaving Horwich Parkway in sight of the stadium and it was looking like we were in for a low turnout this Valentines day lunchtime. A real shame as Bolton made their name in the FA Cup in Rioch's day and the sold-out matches at Burnden Park were always something special. Tottenham to their credit has brought 5,000 with them out of the overall crowd of 13,000. As the players took to the pitch, I was hoping that the game would warrant more than the poor attendance it had attracted.

Bolton had arrived at the 5th round having comfortably disposed of Lincoln and Sheffield United and Tottenham had progressed at the expense of Peterborough and Leeds, needing a replay last time out. Given the club's relative league position Tottenham were prematch favourites, but the Reebok has not previously been a happy hunting ground. The game started quite openly with Tottenham trying to exploit the height of Peter Crouch in attack and Bolton creating some chances outside the box without the finishing, from Elmander in particular, failing to match the quality of the approach play.




As the game drew closer to halftime, Bolton increased their pressure on Spurs and the closest chance came from Matt Taylor's free-kick drawing a fine save from Gomez. Bolton were not to be denied and a series of passes culminated in a superb one-two between Lee and Elmander who cut back to Kevin Davies who took on touch to tee up the ball before tucking it in the bottom corner to make it 1-0 to the hosts at the break. Retreating under the stand for a halftime pint, I noted that not only had we poached Burnley's manager - we also had their pies too!



In the second half, Tottenham were looking a lot more capable and it soon became clear Bolton may come to regret only leading by the one goal, although Bolton were still looking to attack Tottenham were starting to look dangerous at the other end.



Tottenham finally made the break-through having twice rattled the Bolton bar, a header from Crouch and a deflected shot from Palacios, when Jermaine Defoe pounced on a pass from Bale and blasted home from close range. Things went from bad to worse from there, firstly losing the impressive Zat Knight to injury and then a handball decision against Sam Ricketts gave Tottenham a penalty. Tom Huddlestone stepped up for the spot kick which was well saved by Jaaskalainen, keeping the game level.


Bolton seemed to respond to the wake up call of the spot-kick and although Tottenham still looked the more likely to score the threat level was greatly reduced and the only real chance of note was a long range effort from Defoe. The final score of 1-1 was a fair result as the teams had dominated a half each and although Tottenham will fancy their chances at home, hope springs eternal for Bolton.

Manchester City v Stoke City Fifth Round Saturday 13th February 2010

Looking at the 5th round draw, my first choice was a trip to Derby County to see the if the Championship side could upset Brimingham City. Ringing for tickets on the day they went on open sale, I was informed that on police instructions they were only selling tickets to fans already on Derby's database and as I had not been to Pride Park before I was out the running for that one. Looking for a plan B, I decided it was finally time to go and see my own team, Bolton take on Spurs on the Sunday match and a ticket was duly secured for the early Sunday kick-off. On Thursday an email dropped into my in box, Umbro had found this blog and wanted to do a feature and interview with me and would I like a pair of tickets for Man City v Stoke as a thank-you? Yes I certainly would. So thanks to Derbyshire Constabulary I was now going to two matches and at half the cost of a day out in Derby.

The match was due to kick-off at 5.15, and wishing to avoid the mess of the metrolink roadworks in Droylsden I had a pre-match pint at Stalybridge's excellent buffet bar before catching the train into Manchester and then onto the ground on one of the special buses from Piccadilly Gardens.

I had 30 minutes to spare before kick-off so plenty of time to pick up my tickets and meet my friend, who has requested to remain anonymous for footballing reasons. Having been pointed in the direction of the ticket office and joined the clue from collections, I was then rather worried when the girl serving could find no sign of my tickets. Thankfully, it turned out that City have two ticket offices and I was simply in the wrong and after a quick trek to the other side of the ground the tickets were collected and we were in our seats just before the teams took to the field, a cracking view from the 2nd tier right above the corner flag.



Stoke City had arrived at this stage by first overcoming non-league York in the third round and then going on to dump Arsenal out in the next round with an impressive 3-1 win at The Brittania Stadium. Although they had not sold their allocation, the fans were in good voice and with a bit of a reputation for trouble in the past it was clear the police were taking no chances with the segregation.


Manchester City had were playing at home for the first time in the cup this season, having overcome potential banana skin ties at Middlesbrough and Scunthorpe. City's season seems to have stuttered a little since the disappointment of losing the Carling Cup semi-final to arch-rivals Manchester United. The club's main aim is finish in the top 4 this season, and the decision to rest Tevez & Bellamy reflected this however the fans are desperately keen to end their trophyless run and I'm sure would welcome a successful cup run.


As the game got underway, chants of "There's only one John Terry" rang out from the away end. A bit naughty and it failed to have an effect on Wayne Bridge who was having a fan start to the game getting involved in the attacks down the left and side and playing with a lot more confidence than I've seen from him for a long time. Manchester City dominated the early possession, but were playing with a tempo that I felt was a little two slow to properly test Stoke who were content to break up play and play high balls forward to Ricardo Fuller who looked capable of making life uncomfortable for the City centre-backs.



Just as Stoke looked like they had settled into the game, came the breakthrough. A long through pass from Stephen Ireland tempted Thomas Soronsen out of his penalty box only to be beaten to the ball by Shaun Wright-Phillips who flicked the ball over him towards the goal. Defender Ryan Shawcross had managed to race forward and flick the ball away from the goal with his foot, but his momentum carried him ahead of the ball and instead of it going out for a corner it flicked off the back of this head and presented the pursuing Wright-Phillips a simple tap in to give City the lead.

Things went from bad to worse for Stoke shortly after with winger Etherington being stretchered off with a knee injury and then almost conceding a penalty for a foul on Wright-Phillips that was deemed to be just outside of the box. However Stoke seemed to rally a little and managed to apply a bit of pressure towards half-time, without creating many convincing chances in front of goal.




Having had a quick half-time beer, the temperature was starting to drop and we were hoping the second half would see a more attacking game and although both sides showed willing the final ball still seemed to elude both teams.


Twelve minutes into the second half Stoke equalised in a manner for which they have become notorious under Tony Pulis. Substitute Rory Delap launched one of his trademark throw-ins thirty yards into the box to be headed home by the threatening Fuller. Cue scenes of pandemonium in the away end and a bit of aggro for the stewards and police as some fans tried to break the cordon and confront the home fans.


City changed things round bringing on Patrick Viera and a rare sighting of Roque Santa Cruz to partner Adebeyor up front who had a fruitless afternoon. Chances were still hard to come by but City almost had the lead restored when Gareth Barry's header from Wright-Phillips cross was brilliantly saved by Sorensen.

With no further chances forthcoming, the game ended level to the delight of the Stoke fans who will fancy their chances at their place and were belting out Delilah at the final whistle. Leaving the ground we found ourselves having to walk right through the away fans to get to our meeting point which was a little hairy with the nearest police a distance away in the dark but thankfully they weren't in a fighty mood. City also have a trip to Stoke on Tuesday for a league match, so this one could well turn into a saga.